Sharing Our Journey While Encouraging Yours

Stop Your Child’s Interrupting With This Simple Trick

Every parent knows it: little ones just need to speak everything that goes through their head, and this leads to a whole lot of interrupting.

“Look! I see a puffy sticker!”

“What are we doing tomorrow?”

“It’s snowing outside!”

“I hurt my finger!”

Sometimes you just want to have a simple conversation with another adult but it’s so hard to get two words in without your child blurting every thought they think.

Little ones are enthusiastic about life. Everything is new to them. Everything they think, do, and see has to be processed, often through talk.

So how is one to have even a brief conversation without the interrupting?

One Simple Trick

I’ve used this little trick for years, and it really works! When you are in conversation with someone else and your little one has something to say, they simply put their hand on you. You then put your hand on top of theirs to acknowledge them. Then when there’s a break in the conversation, it is their turn to speak.

That’s it! Nothing else to it. If you’re struggling with too much interrupting from your little one, give it a try and let me know how it goes.

It will be a teaching process, especially with very young ones. But they will begin to understand how it works and will remember to do it more and more over time. They are learning so many things with this one action! They learn they have thoughts that need to be spoken and their thoughts are valued, but there is a proper time to speak their thoughts and a time to wait for others to speak theirs.

Are YOU Interrupting THEM?

Here’s something else to think about. While we all want to teach our little ones to not interrupt, many times we are undermining that by interrupting them!

I recently realized that I was interrupting my little ones without even realizing it. Of course I thought what I had to say was more important than what they were saying. Just like they think when they interrupt me, right?

Pay attention throughout the day to how many times you’re interrupting your child. You might be surprised! Once you are more aware of your own actions, your teaching will have a greater impact on your little ones.